Sunday, May 8, 2011

I will preface this review by saying that I am not a real big Broadway guy. I have seen some shows, but I do not really seek them out. I usually only go because I know that someone else wants to go. I also have to admit that I am also put off by theater type performers. Their thirst for attention and getting noticed usually comes off as desperate to me.

So with that said, I knew that Ellen's Stardust Diner would not be for me. I knew this going in, but I was still hoping for a good meal. I mean just because I had to listen to some song from Little Mermaid that I did not know, didn't mean they could not make a good breakfast, or a decent dessert, right?

Ellen's has been in business since 1987 in the heart of Times Square. Besides the singing wait staff, they have a 50's nostalgia theme going on here also. My parents, bigger Broadway fans than myself, had been here before and loved it. So we came here twice, once for breakfast and once for dessert. So let's see if the food will be a big hit or Broadway flop.

I will start with my Dad's omelet. To be honest I did not try this omelet, and I am not even sure what was in it. From the picture it looks like a veggie omelet. It also looked like it was a little sparse when it came to the cheese. My Dad finished this with no problem, and no complaints, so I will take that as it was good.

My Mom's standard breakfast is an egg sandwich on an English muffin. This was not even on the menu, but they accommodated her request. The bacon on this looked good, and again, I did not try this. She liked this meal, calling it, "good".

Katie followed my Mom's lead when she got the Breakfast Sandwich served on a bagel. Katie felt that this breakfast was average. She thought that the bagel was the best part of this meal.

I was not too enthused by the breakfast menu at Ellen's. I finally decided on the Breakfast Burrito. This breakfast burrito came wet style, with egg, cheese and sausage. The burrito really lacked flavor. It was decent sized, but tasted like nothing. The potatoes were equally bland, and tasted like something you would get out of the freezer case at the supermarket.

Now on to dessert at Ellen's. The whole trip Katie had wanted to try New York Cheesecake, and sadly she chose this place to get it. She claimed that this was a mediocre cheesecake. I tried a bite of this also and would have to concur.

For the second time on our trip my Dad got an Ice Cream Soda made with chocolate ice cream. Looking from across the table this looked to be a gloppy mess. No complaints from the big guy with this ice cream soda though, so I guess it was all good.

This soupy mess was my Brownie Mudslide Sundae. It came out half melted. The ice cream that was not already melted was fine, but the brownie was not anything spectacular.

I will sum up Ellen's this way. The only reason to go to Ellen's is if you enjoy singing waiters. The food we had was all average to below average. Maybe their lunches and dinners are better than what we had, but if the above is any indication, they probably aren't. The service was okay, considering that the wait staff was more concerned with grabbing a piece of the spotlight, rather than finding a bottle of Tabasco.

Out of five cattle calls, (because I imagine the waiters here have been to plenty of cattle calls), five being best to zero being worst, Ellen's Stardust Diner gets 2 cattle calls.